aikidjoe

Re: Triple Couloirs, I've climbed it in fat ice and bony conditions, and the experience is completely different. In fat ice it's pure joy like described above, but when bony it was scary and sketchy as hell, to me anyways, and felt very hard to find gear. I kinda suck at climbing though, so maybe it's just me. It's really hard to catch TC or any of the Dragontail north face climbs in fat conditions I've found sadly. Probably goes without saying, but just throwing it out there because I feel like TC and other Dragontail north face climbs are really fickle to find in prime condition.

so cool! congrats!

I wonder if social media and outdoor company marketing has simply "commodified" the outdoors. A lot of people seem to be attracted to it for superficial reasons and don't even understand what a wilderness experience is, or what the customs and etiquette are. I guess what I'm saying is they don't even know they're not being considerate; it's just how social media and marketing has projected as the "correct" way to interact with nature now. Not sure that makes sense, as I'm still not sure how best to articulate my thought, but I do sense that social media and marketing is fundamentally changing not just how many people want to go "experience" nature but also the behaviors. It doesn't occur to them they are ruining it for others because social media and marketing has normalized the behaviors we're all lamenting. Just a theory. It's a troubling and sad trend

Amazing!

My partner and I watched you and other team for a while from the lake, having decided it was much too spicy for our taste. Nice work!

I love this part: I remember in high school during the summer I'd bike to the rock after rowing practice and being so frustrated how I could barely get off the ground! I still feel that way on most of that damn wall....

Really cool and great job! Thanks for sharing!

That is impressive! Thanks for sharing.

Hi all - I'm curious if anyone has experience biking from Seattle to the North Fork Sauk River TH or other TH's on the Mountain Loop Highway? I imagine riding the Mountain Loop Highway is kind of sketchy with the cars, but I'm curious about the rest of the path. Or if anyone has experience going for rides like this, or can point me to resources I can find better information for safe(r) bike routes to the mountains for reference? Thanks!

Good thing they closed the mountain for the foul weather up there today.

I find this outrageous and disgusting.

I also greatly appreciate this site and those who keep it going. I've used the site for a long time for beta, inspiration, research, and it's free and doesn't manipulate you (except to go on a wild goose chase for ice!).

I agree with you Olyclimber. We live in a society that now seems to rewards narcissism and egotism (often disguised in false humility), and it was so wonderful to be reminded of how such an incredible athlete and climber could live with such sincerity and integrity despite the pressure for the opposite. To be at such a high level for your chosen path and do it with such integrity, definitely an inspiring example for how to live, however short it was. And the climbing! Good lord, so beautiful (and scary) to watch. Watching him soloing on the Stanley Headwall was amazing to me. Anyhow, great documentary on a great climber and person! Such a tragedy.

I think I'll need to try something like this. The cold seems to also just eat fuel up super fast as well, and the water cup does help but is not great if you forget to take it out and the can freezes into the cup! Is that just normal aluminum foil on the sides? What's the base made of? Thanks!

I will say, we brought of lot of modern tech to bare to help with the navigating. GPS on our phone with satellite photos to help guide when to be on the river (or when to go back to the river), slope angle shading to help along the ridge. But most of all: Joe and his uncanny ability to sniff out a path through brush.

Maybe we were just being dumb! I had some bad scratches on my hands by the end. Though as I recall we only ended up in really bad devils club and nettles on the last day out, which was appropriate, since the entire approach and deproach felt like the Picket Gods were determined to destroy us, only to let us pass when spirits were at their lowest (for me anyways)!

That's impressive! Getting up Pioneer Ridge looked more difficult than what we experienced on the ridge leading up to Challenger. Do you remember battling a lot of brush while ascending that ridge?

Some things Joe did not mention: Joe is responsible for the vision, leading through all the difficulties and figuring out the route finding, and tolerating my moments of doubt. As I told my wife before the trip, I only hoped to keep up with him, and I barely did! In all seriousness, this is easily one of the most adventurous trips I've done and I felt really fortunate to get to do it with Joe!

I started that this year too, basically for the same reasons. It's funny how just a simple shift of when the week "starts" can make such a positive difference in managing weekly volume!

Thanks for sharing! The climbing aside, I find the planning and logistics to make your year successful to be equally impressive!

Just to second what bedellympian said: unless you're super fit already, I think if you just follow their basic program/structure and pay attention to your body, a serious hobbyist can use the information they give for self coaching in their books and website. I saw a huge leap in my endurance this year following their basic program/structure/ philosophy for mountain/ ultra running from their newer book tftua. Before knees surgeries, following the basic structure in tftna gave me a big jump (for me) in what I could do for alpine climbing. It's pretty simple, not gimmicky, and it works for the vast majority us. I think you'll only get value for paying for a coach if you're really advanced climber and athlete (which maybe you are?) Otherwise I suspect you'll pay a lot for them to tell you to do what is in their books and website! Just my opinion. They are super generous with putting the information out there for self coaching but you do have to put the time in to learn the material. Though once you learn it i feel like the prescription is simple.

Super cool! Thanks for sharing!

I was (half jokingly) wondering if almost the whole climb was done in the dark of night and so early to avoid the authorities! ha!

All good points @JasonG and @PorterM. Nisqually Ice fall also appears (to me) to be more broken up than 10+ years ago. Could that be that the upper glacier is moving faster with more liquid at its base, causing more rapid flow? I'd always assumed it was just really rapidly its top layers, exposing its more broken base. More likely: I'm bored of being at home and am shamelessly speculating on a topic I'm woefully uneducated in...

My friend an I did this in 2015 (I think March?) which was a super low snow year, and we did not encounter serious cracks like you did. My suspicion is this is a symptom of extra warming melting out glaciers far faster than snow each year can count for. Each summer melts away the last winter's snow and then some more. Hence more cracks, even on an "average" snow year. It's really depressing to think about (for me).